Blood Diamond
by Kechk
Summary: As the crystal gem's pasts and secrets are unveiled, Steven and the other 3 gems go through an emotional roller coaster. Rose Quartz is a woman of many secrets, this one just hurts more than the others. The blood diamond will rise again after the first crystal gem sealed it away eons ago and in its wake the Earth will tremble. What will become of the crystal gems?


Hey there Steven Universe fans! I'm a new fan but I really LOVE this series. Oh my goodness, it's so wonderful, I love Rebecca Sugar and the entire crew for Steven Universe. Kudos to their background artist Steven Sugar too, so lovely! I can't wait for more.

Anyway, this fic will be Pearl-centric as she's my favourite character among all of the current characters. (I love them all, it's just that I relate to her more as I am also a person who nags a lot, I just feel responsible for a lot of things so her responsibility clicks with me). Because I'm a horrid person who doesn't finish past fanfics (I lost the inspiration and I'm busy, srry guys), I'll be keeping this fic short, max 10 chapters. No major OCs but there'll be introductions to other gems and their society. I just couldn't help writing something as the lack of fics that are non-pairing in this fandom is just so sad D:

So here goes, hope you like it!

* * *

**Blood Diamond**

_During a time when humans had yet opened their eyes; their minds still within an induced coma-like state, Gems were the greatest race. A universe so vast and confusing, they were formless, gaseous beings possessing great magical powers; differentiable by colour, distinguished by voice. Unlike the protectors of earth we know today, they were mystical beings, residing in swirling masses, caught in the violent pull of gravity. _

_They roamed, mingled and split into new sentient beings. As they spread, they created speech, song and dance. Colours mingled and the became liquid, dancing and swirling displaying a variety of tints and shedding glittery sparks. As they swirled about in the turbulent force of gravity, they pooled their magick and created Earth, solid matter. _

_In this burst of energy from their colour and song, life began. No one really knew where the humans and other life forms came from, awakening and populating they have stayed ever since, exploring the vast earth. It could be surmised that the swirling gems created life as they did with the planet but they did not resemble life as they did not possess emotions; merely bystanders that watched Earth thrive with life._

_Where did the gems we've come to known come from you ask? After the gems gave most of their power to create solidity, they became weak. Smaller than the greatness they were before. They roamed the earth, merely a smear of colour in the atmosphere. Humans mistook them for ghosts, voices in the air that whispered and sang soft, sad yet calming melodies._

_In time, the gems grew jealous of the life that surrounded them, each planet had life and each planet was populated with formless gems. Their magic having passed in the creation of solid matter, their songs lost the beauty it held before making them meaningless smears in the world. This jealousy started the violent age of bloodshed among some of the gems. _

_It is unclear which gem spirit started the war but when it did, many others followed. The gems grew dark in their greed, possessing creatures of all sizes and forms, human and animal, murdering them for their temporary bodies, a moment of solidity if you will. As they killed more and more, they attained a powerful and permanent physical form. These gems formed various monstrous shapes, some large horrendous creatures, others small and cunning. The gems that killed more however, managed to attain a form similar to the present crystal gems, having a human-like body and developed senses. However due to their origin, they were called the blood gems, relying on killing to attain their forms and power._

_Not all gems of course succumbed to this desire, creating a permanent rift among the gems, those who used evil methods to attain physical form and another who only desired to preserve Earth's beauty. The remaining gems, afraid they would lose the paradise they had created, decided to battle their kin. However, they were gaseous, incapable of fighting and ridding the evil that was the blood gems. Here, the first of the gems, the oldest and wisest, Pearl, became the first gem to ever sacrifice its sentience to bond with a human, the price to pay if the gem wanted to pass its powers onto a human without killing. _

_As such, Pearl was the first crystal gem to lose its sentience, entrusting its powers to a female warrior…_

"_I shall lose my conscious, my power goes to you, child." The pearl spirit said._

"_And I, shall be forever indebted to you, pure spirit." The female warrior said as it kneeled, head down. _

_The spirit's voice rumbled: " In this time of war and bloodshed, you are giving your life to defeat an evil that was spawned by my kin, you who are a mere human. Your sacrifice is honourable as you give your mortality for your friends and family, your people? We gems were never meant to attain a physical form and yet, here we are, discussing which party owes the other…"_

_With a stern face, the female warrior replied:_

"_You have been a friend for a long time, pure and wise you were my mentor. Your songs, told stories that when heard by our ears, allowed us to draw our conscience, though you may not express it. You might have no physical body to inhibit but you have a voice, ages old with knowledge no book can record. You who are responsible for creating this earth I stand on, creating the planets in the multitude of galaxies for life to thrive, you have every right to kill and do as you please yet you give it to myself. A mere human."_

"_That may be true… the gems were the ones who danced and gave magic to create Earth… but humans gave beauty to it. Your lifespans are short yet you make do, bringing joy and sadness, empathy and apathy. Gems are powerful and ages old but in our colours and songs, we will never achieve human emotion… as you have clearly shown, we cannot express."_

_The warrior stood silent, her followers were knelt behind her, clad in armour as they were about to follow their leader into battle with the blood gems. _

"_Enough, this is where I bid you farewell young warrior. Wield my power well and may you protect the human race with the immortality I grant you."_

_With that, the area grew silent and the gem spirit slithered into the warrior's body. Her skin glowed in a pale warm light, her eyes glittered and on her forehead, a round oval pearl shined brightly. _

_She was Pearl, leader of the crystal gems…_

* * *

_When the pure gem emerged,_

_Many other men and women followed, Inspired, _

_Slowly, new crystal gems emerged,_

_Amethyst, Garnet, Quartz, Emerald, Turquoise and many more…_

_They rose to battle the Blood gems,_

_Grotesque in shape, monsters they were,_

_Some came in the form of birds, some in centipedes,_

_But one, the most cunning,_

_Had the strength of diamond,_

_The Blood Diamond._

_She eradicated many but the Gems were too much,_

_Flee she did until she met her end,_

_The great Pearl spent her breath caging the evil gem,_

_Entrusting the guardianship to the Quartz_

_And Quartz guarded it forever more…_

* * *

"Woahhhhhhh !" A young boy in a pink T-shirt exclaimed in awe and wonder. Steven Universe roamed about the ancient temple. He was on another machine to retrieve a relic that was lost after the temple collapsed.

"Hey G n' P, where's this important relic anyway? We've been walking for hours!" Amethyst yelled at the two other gems.

"Well, if you could be a little less impatient and more helpful in navigating we would probably find our way faster!" Pearl snapped.

"Look at all these cool symbols!" The excitable boy began pointing and touching the various symbols on the wall. The temple was extremely run down and debris was everywhere. It was damp and dark but each of the gems had a torchlight, dug out from Greg's storehouse. Steven had made a personal headlight by using an old stretchy sock to tie his torchlight on top of his head, a Steven-styled classic.

"Steven! Be careful, don't touch them, you might set off traps!" Pearl squawked at him, making the boy flinch away from the wall surface. She then turned around to yell at Amethyst who was picking her nose in boredom. "Amethyst that is disgusting!"

"Chill, P. We aren't going anywhere, you can squawk later. Your yelling is echoing all over the place and is making my brain hurt. A lot."

Pearl, infuriated, puffed her cheeks and continued on the journey with a huff.

As the group continued on their way, the purple-skinned gem surprised everyone with a question.

"So what's all this stuff on the walls anyway?"

"If you'd listened to me earlier, you'd have known what this place is."

"So what do they all even mean?" Amethyst ignored Pearl's jab.

"Well, this place is historically rich. You might remember Rose leaving every so often to taken care of it. Her line, the Quartz gems used to take care of it. It was used to guard an important relic but I guess after Steven came about… the temple broke down since she isn't here anymore to keep it in shape."

There was a sad silence, as the crystal gems reminisced their times with Rose and how she would always disappear for a whole day to come to the temple. No one was ever allowed here.

"So my mum used to guard this whole place? Alone?" Steven asked curiously, breaking the gems from their thoughts.

"Yes. Gems are special people Steven. Each member of the crystal gems are unique and because of that, there are only a few crystal gems on the planet." Pearl began explaining.

"Woah, there are more? Tell me more about them!"

"Well, not many more." Pearl kneeled down onto the floor, gathering a few stones. With a slight twinkle of the finger, the stones rearranged to form animated figures.

"You see, crystal gems have a certain line. For example, in the Amethyst line, there can only be a single crystal gem."

"Geez Pearl, stop making everything complicated. It just means there was another Amethyst before I came about and when I came about that Amethyst died. Capeesh?"

"Ermmm, so I'm the only Quartz around?" Steven questioned.

"Yes. And this temple and it's relic will be guarded by you once you master your gem powers. Just like the previous Quartz gems." Garnet bluntly stated.

"Whatttt?!"

"Don't worry Steven, you'll just have to walk and check up on this place, say… EVERYDAY!" Amethyst laughed.

"Amethyst!" Pearl reprimanded as a look of horror came upon Steven's face. "Don't worry Steven, once you know how, you'll be a natural at guarding this temple. We'll be here to help you out too."

"Yeah, don't worry Steve-o."

Breathing a sigh of relief, the gems continued making their way through the temple.

"Hey guys, why did my mum-uh the past Quartz gems have to protect this place anyways?"

"That's actually a good question but unfortunately we don't know Steven. This place was guarded by Rose and only Rose knew about why it was built. It was a thing we never discussed since it was information passed through the Quartz line only." Pearl said sadly since even she was not privy to such information.

"What we do know is the way to the main hall since it's where we first had our official crystal gem meeting. There should be something there we could use as a pointer to the relic if our memory serves." Pearl continued explaining. "That day, all the crystal gems had to gather, summoned by Rose to form groups and be assigned to various places on Earth to guard it. It was the day me, Rose, Garnet and Amethyst formed the crystal gems responsible for this region."

"Wait, region?"

"It's difficult to explain but I'll do my best Steven."

"Yeah, get ready to have your ears bleed with Pearl's geek-out-moment." Amethyst jabbed.

Pearl, ignoring Amethyst's tease decided to tell a story…

"Long ago, before any of us represented our Gem lines…"

* * *

_The crystal gems were without leadership. Their sole purpose was to exterminate the monstrous gem creatures. Collecting their leftover gems but without knowing the purpose of it. In the fights, much of the historical documents were destroyed leaving no evidence of the past and information on the gem's creation. The only information that was known was either passed down through the gem lines or stored by gems that had survived and escaped reincarnation._

_They only knew their goal was to protect the humans._

_In all of Earth, there are tiny pockets of space surrounding it, accessible by various portals on Earth, where there is soil and dirt and of course gem monsters. The strawberry battlefield was one of the remnants of these pockets. Each gem line owned a portal that brought it to random pockets leading to a saturation of protectors in certain areas and infestations of monsters in others._

_Because of the lack of coordination among the gems, many died off and were reincarnated as new representatives of their Gem lines, losing all past memory of themselves and having to retrain themselves like machines. Their programming was in their gems. Devoid of emotions they were, alone and violent. At the time, conflicts between gems of different lines often meant territorial wars and bloodshed. It didn't help protecting mankind._

_That was until Rose Quartz came along._

_She was a born leader, seeing the problems among the gem society, the issues with their culture. With much hardship, she finally managed to bring the gems together in what was called the great Crystal Gem meeting, bringing unity to all gems, teaching and coordinating them. Rose saw beauty in all things, just as she saw in all gem lines without discrimination. It was her who taught the gems that in their differences they were beautiful, together they were strongest._

_With the cooperation of other gems, she created the portals that were capable of visiting specific pockets and assigned the groups to each portal. These portals did not bring the gems to pockets which would intersect with others. This meant that the gems could protect the Earth more efficiently and different gems from different lines could work together. _

_That was when Rose, Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl first met._

_Despite the abolishment of Gem line reverence, Quartz could not abandon this aspect of her line's assigned purpose, to guard the temple where they first met and assigned the groups._

_This job was approved by other gems, the oldest of all the gems. In gem society they are called the Eldar as they were some of the oldest gems who had not been reincarnated for ages, retaining much of their information and past memories as they trained themselves to. The Eldar, being extremely old had exceptions in their gem line. Unlike other gem lines, gem lines of the Eldar had multiple members, meaning that there were many protectors possessing the same gem. The Emerald line is one example, having hundreds of other crystal gem members with the Emerald gem._

_The reason the temple is protected is known by them and the Quartz line only, no other gem line was privy to this information and it stayed that way until Steven came along._

* * *

"So far, we haven't been contacted for any huge meeting or anything." Pearl grumbled.

"Wahh, they know about me?"

"Why of course Steven! The Quartz line is probably the most glorious! Mainly because of Rose but I'm sure you'll do great as a Quartz!"

"I'm a STAR aren't I?! Get it?" Steven giggled as he pointed at the star on his pink shirt.

Seeing the annoyed faces of the gems, Steven whined loudly.

"Aw c'mon guys!"

"Anyway, we have to protect the relic in replacement of Rose for the time being-"

"We're here." Garnet stated.

The large circular area was covered in all sort of patterns and symbols, a circle in the centre. It was a large dome and the air was damp, so quiet.

As Pearl eyed the area, a chill went up her spine, shivering she folded her arms together trying to gain a bit of warmth.

Just then, a loud voice echoed throughout the temple.

"What are you doing here?!"

* * *

Mhm. End of chapter one. Yupsies. My attempt and mythical-talk is so bad ugh

"the great pearl" Geebers so cheesy.

But yeah Pearl is great. Blood diamond's story will be covered more the next chapter! It really is Pearl-centric eh? Hehehe, I've got lots planned for this story, just wait! It took some time to think about the Gem's society and stuff. Also, Eldar was sort of picked off from LOTR but whatev, it sounds cool.

Just to summarise what's been ranted here:

Gem lines have only 1 representative which explains why Steven is the only one with the Quartz and why his mom died.

The special gem lines that have more than 1 representatives are the Eldar, one of the gem lines under the Eldar group are the Emerald line. Other lines will be mentioned later in the story.

Rose Quartz was assigned to guard this temple, whose name I will reveal later on.

Gems reincarnate by emerging through the sea (due to the Pearl being the first crystal gem member). I'll mention this later too.

The crystal gems we know were assigned as a team by Rose Quartz and the Eldar.

The portal in the crystal gem temple (where Steven lives) can teleport to a specified number of space pockets. It's programmed to only go to those few areas but destinations can be changed.

I'm going to give you guys horrid feels for Pearl and the other gems later, prepare to be screwed over by my plot ( I hope).

MAJOR EDITS: Yah. Read eet.

Till the next update, toodles!


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